Lance Armstrong lon his way to winning the 49th Nevada City Classic. Photograph: Robert Durell/AP

Lance Armstrong has recorded the first victory of his comeback, winning the Nevada City Classic in his final race before his return to the Tour de France. The seven-times Tour winner won alone after attacking his two breakaway companions with six laps remaining of the 40-lap race, 1,870 days after his last professional victory. Ben Jacques-Maynes was second, with Armstrong's Astana team-mate Levi Leipheimer third.

Britain's top female cyclists are also celebrating after recording major wins over the weekend. The Olympic and world road-race champion, Nicole Cooke, claimed Italy's Giro di Trentino, while the Olympic time-trial silver medallist, Emma Pooley, won the biggest stage race of her career, taking the Grande Boucle Féminine – effectively the women's version of the Tour de France but run over just four days. Pooley won two of the four stages to claim overall victory by 22 seconds ahead of Christiane Soeder of Austria.